Julian Paparella, who was 25 years old when he addressed hundreds of bishops in that assembly, joins Zac and Ashley to shed light on the dynamic at work inside synods.

“The synod is not a council. It does not take decisions as a council does. Its task is to discern, not decide,” one synod member explained to me.

As a superior general and then as a bishop, the cardinal said he had attended six previous synods, and this is “the most diverse synod I’ve ever participated in.”

In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss the first week of the Synod on Synodality, and the strong emphasis from Pope Francis and the synod team to maintain discussions between participants confidential, both during and after the synod.

The synod secretariat has gone to extraordinary lengths to encourage each member into a disposition of openness so that maybe, just maybe, the Holy Spirit can act.

The Catholic Church is called to be an instrument of communion, Anna Rowlands told synod participants. But it requires grace and “learning to ‘bear with’ reality, gently, generously, lovingly and courageously.“